Variational dynamics of open quantum systems in phase space

Abstract: We present a method to simulate the dynamics of large driven-dissipative many-body open quantum systems using a variational encoding of the Wigner or Husimi-Q quasi-probability distributions. The method relies on Monte-Carlo sampling to maintain a polynomial computational complexity while allowing for several quantities to be estimated efficiently. As a first application, we present a proof of principle investigation into the physics of the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model with weak nonlinearity, providing evidence for the high efficiency of the phase space variational approach.